


Per Adversa Ad Luce : Through Adversity to the Light ~ One ~ Tenebris Procumbit : Darkness Falls

by Lezzles



Series: Per Adversa Luce ~ Through Adversity to the Light [1]
Category: Castle
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, Crime, Friendship, Gen, descriptions of violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-03
Updated: 2013-11-05
Packaged: 2017-12-31 08:34:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1029569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lezzles/pseuds/Lezzles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kevin and Jenny Ryan have had a week-long vacation, a last chance to be just them before the birth of their child. But now Ryan seems to have forgotten to come back to work, and he isn't answering his phone. Follow the team on a painful and frustrating journey as they search for their missing partner.</p><p>Set Season Six just after Kate returns to the 12th.<br/>All past events are established canon, with references and possible spoilers, but the story is AU. </p><p>I don't own Castle - ABC Studios and Andrew Marlowe do. I'm just borrowing the characters for a while to play.<br/>I am not making any money from this; it's just to freeshare with my ff friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> AN: A HUGE thank you to Firestar385 for beta reading, Americanizing and generally correcting this work. Any remaining mistakes are mine!
> 
> Please let me know what you think. All constructive criticism is welcomed - I haven't written in quite a while and the only way to improve is to take on board other people's comments. I hope you will enjoy the reading journey as much as I am enjoying the writing one.
> 
> Bookart for this work can be found in Part 3 of this series

* * *

_We're putting up the tree the other day, and Jenny says to me, "It just doesn't feel like Christmas without kids. She wants to try. But I come to work. I watch the news every day. It seems like the world's falling apart. How am I supposed to bring a kid into that?_

 

Kevin Ryan - Secret Santa

 

* * *

 

Kate Beckett was on her way to a bodega where the owner had been shot and killed, when she met up with her shadow and partner Rick Castle. He held out a cardboard cup containing her usual coffee, offering it to her.

"Thanks, just what I need. I haven't had time to grab one since I left this morning, and as you know THAT one was rather rushed." He raised his eyebrows at her.

"Well not my fault if you had trouble getting out of bed today, detective."

"Oh it was totally your fault, as you know very well!"

"But you enjoyed what I was doing, didn't you?" She glanced at him and there was his trademark smirk.

"Yes, I enjoyed it," she conceded, "but I would have been TOTALLY pissed if I had not had time for coffee at all."

"Well, good job I got one for you now, then. Where are the boys? I don't see them anywhere."

"Ryan seems to have forgotten what day he needed to come back from his vacation, and his phone is switched off so Esposito swung round to his place to pick him up."

"Well I hope he doesn't interrupt anything. This week is meant to be their pre-natal second honeymoon after all."

"Honeymoon's over, I need him on the job."

"You are a hard woman." Kate laughed,

"True, true." She glanced around as they entered the bodega, "but where are they? They should be here by now." On cue, her phone rang. "Espo, where are you? The scene's getting col… WHAT?!" Seeing her expression change to one of horror, Castle tugged on the phone so he could hear as well. Esposito's voice was hard and cold, and he spoke succinctly and slowly…

"I said the place is wrecked and Ryan's not here. But Beckett, Jenny IS here and she's dead!" ...


	2. Mancante - Missing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kevin and Jenny Ryan have had a week-long vacation, a last chance to be just them before the birth of their child. But now Ryan seems to have forgotten to come back to work, and he isn't answering his phone. Follow the team on a painful and frustrating journey as they search for their missing partner.
> 
> Set Season Six just after Kate returns to the 12th.  
> All past events are established canon, with references and possible spoilers, but the story is AU.
> 
> I don't own Castle - ABC Studios and Andrew Marlowe do. I'm just borrowing the characters for a while to play.  
> I am not making any money from this; it's just to freeshare with my ff friends.

* * *

 

The first thing he noticed was the blood.

He arrived and knocked but the apartment was completely silent. What the hell was going on? If they had been delayed and not returned, Ryan would have called. They had been due back the night before last, so what had happened? He tried the door and to his surprise found it to be unlocked. And then he walked in - into a bloodbath. There seemed to be blood everywhere. At the edge of his panicking mind the totally inconsequential fact that CSU would have a field day occurred to him.

And then came the second thing he noticed: Jenny, very pregnant Jenny, lying on the floor halfway through the door into the kitchen. With a shaking hand he felt for a pulse. He knew, even before he did, that there wouldn't be one. He gently rolled her onto her back so that he could check her stomach and make sure there was no movement there. Maybe, just maybe, the baby had survived… You read about miracles every day, right? But again he knew right away that there was no hope. Three large bullet wounds adorned Jenny's jutting stomach and they would have impacted the child as well. Her eyes were locked open and staring, and so full of terror and pain that it broke his heart. He knew stomach wounds from his time in the military. They didn't kill you right away. It was a slow and painful way to die. The trail of blood had told him she had tried so very hard to get to the phone in the kitchen and call for help, but although it took a long time to bleed out, paralysis and difficulty moving would have been there from the start.

He gently closed Jenny's staring eyes and then closed his own for a moment in silent pain and admiration for the woman before him. But then they shot open again as he realized that his shock at the find had blinded him to fact that he hadn't found his partner's body. WHERE was he? He ran around the apartment, and everywhere he had checked there were signs of struggle, smashed ornaments, pictures and furniture. There was also more blood - blood in every room it seemed. But nowhere was there any sign of his partner. Ryan was gone.

He willed himself to stop shaking and telephoned the precinct to report it. And as he did so, a cold and furious calm settled over him, so that by the time he phoned Beckett he was completely calm and in control. But, inside, the anger was raging. He needed to make the people who had caused this carnage pay for what they had done. A primal need,that had nothing to do with justice, and everything to do with vengeance.

…

Esposito had told them the place was wrecked, but still they were taken aback at the devastation of the place. The last time they were here was just before the Ryan's vacation, when the then three of them had been invited around for a meal. It was another one of the 'things to hurry up and get done while we have the chance pre-natal!' They had all been so happy that night. Jenny had moaned about feeling like an overstuffed whale, but Ryan's face had glowed with love and pride as he looked at her. They had both been excited about their short vacation back to the inn where they had stayed for their honeymoon, and also, of course, about the birth which was due to follow shortly after. Ryan had told them all that his practice with the doll had paid off and that he could now put on diapers with his eyes shut.

"Well I wouldn't recommend it, Bro, or they'll likely cover you with poo while you're not looking!"

The couple had wined and dined them and then sent them on their separate ways with smiles and hugs; and that was the last time they had seen them. As Castle looked around it was hard to believe it was the same place as the setting for that joyous event. He saw Beckett go over to the kitchen door where Lanie was squatting by the body but didn't feel he could join her. Lanie's professional mask was firmly in place, but maybe a little too firmly. Castle believed he could see she was devastated behind the mask. So instead he turned to Esposito and asked if he had found anything to explain why this horror had happened.

"There's nothing, Bro! CSU might find something under all the rubble, but there's nothing left intact. Their computer is smashed and their phones, too. Whether there was anything on them, I couldn't say. They might have just been smashed to stop Jenny from getting help, although they did leave the wall phone in the kitchen alone. That's why she's where she is. I think she was trying to get to it. From the looks of things she was shot near the front door."

"So, what? She answers the door and they shoot her? Ryan would have run from wherever he was. Would he have had time to get to his gun?"

"His gun is still in the safe, in the hall, not far from the front door. He would have been blocked from it. But he did do damage with something, cause there's too much blood even for two people. I think some of it's from one or more of the dirtbags who attacked."

"You think there was more than one?"

"Had to be, Ryan wouldn't go down to one man, especially after his wife was shot!"

"Well CSU will be ID'ing the blood as soon as possible," Beckett joined their conversation

"What did Lanie say?"

"Jenny's been dead about five hours but GSW's were much earlier. Yesterday afternoon, or even late morning. She'll know more later. Espo, organize a canvass of the building, let's see if anyone heard anything."

"It's unlikely since this is a building for young professionals. Everyone would've been at work."

"Well, it's worth a try… Kevin and Jenny weren't."

"OK. On it. Where will you be?"

"I'm going back to the precinct to take on Gates."

"She can't stop us from working this!"

"She's gonna try! And she won't be too happy I just handed over another investigation we'd been assigned to."

"But this is Ryan! We HAVE to do this. She'll just…"

"Esposito! Calm down. Get the canvass done and I'll see you back at the precinct."

"Right. Later."

In any event, Gates had surprised Beckett yet again when she didn't even try to keep the case from them. But she did warn that she'd pull them if they seemed to be getting compromised.

"And make sure you keep Esposito on a short leash, Detective. I know how aggressive he can get when he's in a protective mode."

"Sir!"

Esposito returned with the news that no witnesses had been found in the canvass. Castle and Beckett were in front of the murder board, studying it, and it sickened him to see photos of Jenny and Ryan up there.

"Have we got anything?" he asked, but Beckett just shook her head.

"We're going to have to go through all his files and try to find someone who has a grudge. And something to explain this happening now."

"We'd know the files and nothings jumping out at me."

"Might be from before, when he was with Narcotics. And there's when we were suspended. We should hit those first."

"But why kill Jenny and then take Ryan?" Castle asked. "If all they wanted was revenge they could have just taken him out, not kidnapped him. They want something else… something he knows."

"Maybe they're just sadistic psychos who want to take their revenge slowly… to torture him."

"Then they would have taken Jenny, as well."

"Why would they?"

"Because what's a worse torture than making someone watch their loved one slowly bleed out and die in agonising pain?"

"Man, that's sick!"

"We need to hit the files," said Beckett again. "Javi, can you go find out what else Lanie found?"

When he got downstairs he found Lanie sitting outside the morgue. She looked up as she heard him come and he saw that her eyes were filled with unshed tears. It broke his heart just a little bit more to see strong, sassy Lanie like that. All they had been through and he had never seen her cry.

"I had to hand it over to Perlmutter. I just couldn't… If it had just been Jenny… but I knew what I would find inside and I couldn't bear it. They were so.. ha.. ppy. Oh God, it shouldn't have ended like this for them."

He pulled her up and into his arms and she finally released the tears into his chest. He felt moisture on his own face and realized he was crying too. He was still angry, but he was also pained and just plain terrified at what they would see when they found Ryan. Or worse, maybe they would never find him at all. Why was this happening?

…

_Pain… He had never felt pain so excruciating before… They were inflicting physical pain to his body but he was numb to that. This was the pain of knowing he would never see his wife smile again, or hold his child in his arms. There was no way they could have survived the attack, especially as they would not be found for hours or maybe even days… they were gone._


	3. Probabilmente - Maybe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kevin and Jenny Ryan have had a week-long vacation, a last chance to be just them before the birth of their child. But now Ryan seems to have forgotten to come back to work, and he isn't answering his phone. Follow the team on a painful and frustrating journey as they search for their missing partner.
> 
> Set Season Six just after Kate returns to the 12th.  
> All past events are established canon, with references and possible spoilers, but the story is AU. 
> 
> I don't own Castle - ABC Studios and Andrew Marlowe do. I'm just borrowing the characters for a while to play.  
> I am not making any money from this; it's just to freeshare with my ff friends.

Hours later they were still searching through files, getting more frustrated and down-hearted by the minute. Esposito and Beckett were on their computers going through files from Ryan's days at Narcotics and Castle was going through paper copies of the reports from when Beckett and Esposito had been suspended.

"Nothing! There's nothing here. Everyone I find that's a possibility is dead or in prison." Knowing the clock was ticking on Ryan's chances, and not being any closer to finding him, was starting to get to Beckett.

"Yo… I think I got something." She and Castle both turned to look at Esposito

"This case is from the end of Ryan's Narc days, just before he came to us, about six or seven years ago. He arrested a small-time druggie and dealer, Miguel Covona, and Covona's wife O.D'd while her husband was in the Tombs on remand. Covona went crazy when he heard about his wife and threatened to make Ryan pay. He got sent down for six years and just got out three months ago. And get this; he was brought into the 12th by uniforms about two weeks ago for drunk and disorderly. He was in lockup overnight. He was here, and I think he MUST have seen Ryan. That could be what set him off."

"Go talk to the desk sergeant and uniforms and see if there is anyone can remember any more details; things they didn't record." Esposito nodded and Beckett switched over to Esposito's desk and read up the case herself.

"Castle, Covona didn't just threaten Ryan. According to this transcript, what he actually said was he would make him know what it felt like to have the one he loved taken away from him and not be able to do a damn thing about it!"

"It would explain Jenny. But I still think he would have taken her and made Ryan watch her bleed out. Don't see how he could have pulled this off on his own, either. Ryan would have been on alert after hearing the gunshots."

"Must have had help, but we need to find out who it was, and try to work out where he could ha…"

"I think we have it!" Esposito was back and he suddenly seemed bursting with energy, "haven't run down the uniforms yet, they're out of the house, but Bill Young is on down there and he was also on duty the night they brought in Covona. It was a couple of weeks ago. Remember, we had that call girl case, and Jenny was bored, stuck at home, and had been making all those homemade cookies for everyone. He remembers me and Ryan coming back in while Covona was being booked, because Ryan went to the desk to drop off some of the cookies for him. He'd told Ryan to thank Jenny for him and the guy had started ranting. Bill thought he was just high, as well as drunk, and couldn't make out much of what he said, but he thinks some of it was 'It's the scum' and 'make him pay'. He said he was going to report it, but then all hell broke loose when they brought in that biker gang and he forgot about it!"

"Any address?"

"No known address but he has been brought in before. Seems he's usually to be found squatting in the commercial district, in Lower Manhattan, down near the docks."

"Let's go. We need to run the uniforms down and try to pin it to a smaller area."

"Bill's already called them to come in."

"We'll talk to them downstairs. We'll need to take uniform backup anyway to search. There're a lot of abandoned warehouses down there."

"If they took him there, there wouldn't be many to hear them. And anyone that did would just get out and not want to get involved."

"Detective Beckett?" She looked up as they were leaving and saw Gates had come out of her office.

"We think we may have a location, Sir. On our way to check now, but we'll need backup to help with a search."

"Take what you need. I'll put a call through to SWAT to expect a possible call for assistance."

"Thank you, Sir."

…

From the information the patrol officers gave them, they reduced the search area down to only four warehouses; but that was still a large area to cover, and by dawn they were still searching. The only thing they had found were some indicators that people had been living rough in the abandoned premises, but there was no sign of Ryan or Covona or anyone else for that matter.

Esposito had gone from being elated to totally disheartened, and Beckett was starting to worry he would lose it all together.

"He's not here; we're in the wrong place!" He crashed his fists into the wall in frustration and anger, and then slumped to the floor, cradling his head in his hands, and hiding unshed tears. Castle put his hand on his shoulder, offering silent support and Beckett spoke to him keeping her voice low and calm, although God knows she wanted to scream out, as well

"We WILL find him, Javi! We got this lead, we'll get another

"HOW?! This guy is in the wind and we have no clue where else to look for him!"

"We'll FIND someone who knows him and can tell us where else to look."

"Beckett, Ryan was NEVER here. There'd be signs. And if not here, where… WHERE?"

"I'm gonna leave uniforms here to canvass now that it's daylight, and we are going back to the precinct and hitting Covona's file again for any contacts. We ARE going to find him. We are NOT going to give up." Esposito heaved a sigh and then slowly nodded.

"I know that, Beckett. Trouble is, the longer it takes, is he still gonna BE him when we finally find do him? Or just an abused and tortured corpse?"

"Ryan's tougher than he looks, Javi. He'll fight. You know that!"

"Do I? What do you think he's got to fight for, considering the state of his wife when he last saw her? He'd have to know she'd be dead. He was devoted to her, and think how over the top he's been about that baby. Even Jenny shook her head at him, sometimes. Why should he fight? What for?"

"I don't know… but I have to keep believing he will. And I'm not going to stop until I SEE his dead body for myself!" She calmed herself again, and then said, "Come on… we need to get back."

Esposito slowly nodded, and then gave a whisper back, "Yeah!"

…

When they had gotten back to the 12th Beckett sent Esposito down to Lanie to get his hands fixed up. "If Gates sees you like that, she'll bench you," she had told him. So here he was, with Lanie gently bathing his bruised knuckles, and his mind working overtime conjuring scenarios featuring his erstwhile partner, and each one was worse than the one before. Lanie noticed his preoccupation and she softly spoke, trying to get his attention.

"Espo… Javi… Baby?" That one got his attention all right. His head shot up to look at her. "What is it? What are you thinking about?"

"Ryan. We've lost him." His tone was soft and resigned, but also filled with regret.

"No… You'll find him. You must." He sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. And then he lifted his head back up to her, and his face was filled with distress.

"Do you know how much I hurt him? And I never told him I was sorry for it. I need to find him if only to tell him that. When Gates suspended me and Becket, I wouldn't even talk to him. He kept calling, and Jenny called me, and even Castle told me I should talk to him, but I was too damn proud. Even when I came back I treated him like shit. It was only when he took that punch for me, that I realized he still had my back, but I STILL never told him I was sorry. We just went back to the way we'd been before. The past few hours I keep trying to work out why I'd felt so betrayed. So, he went to Gates! If he hadn't, Beckett would be dead. She went riding out like a vigilante and all I could see is that we had to back her play. Castle ran away and the only person who actually had any sense did what he had to do. Beckett got it! She knew, but I wouldn't even listen to her afterwards. She'd been hanging by her fingernails, off the side of a building, and where was I? Flat on my back, because I'd been taken out, like a clumsy rookie. Special Ops trained… not worth a damn. At least when Ryan got dropped by 3XK he had no reason to be on alert. So yeah, Beckett is alive because Ryan BETRAYED us; and probably I am too 'cause Maddox could easily have come and finished the job if he hadn't heard the sirens. I HAVE to find him Lanie… I have to tell him!"

"You will… I know you will."

"It's a cliché, you know, but it's still true: Life IS too short. A week ago I was having dinner with a committed couple about to bring their first child into the world, and now… now Jenny and the baby are gone and Ryan is God knows where…. If he's even still alive."

"He is alive, Javi, you have to believe that. But he won't be for much longer if you don't get your ass back upstairs and help Beckett find him!" He gave a short laugh, despite himself.

"Yes, Ma'am. I'm going." As he got to the door she spoke again

"Hey Javi, when this is over, and you have your partner sitting safely at his desk, we need to talk."

"Talk? Or just a booty-call?"

"Talk: really talk. You're right about life… it's time I stopped running away from it and admitted some things to myself AND to you."

He stared at her and then slowly nodded. "You got it. Gotta go."

She continued staring at the closed door long after he'd gone.

…

_Waterboarding! Did they really think waterboarding would get to him? Not so much fun when they added the electrodes to his wet body, that pain even jolted through the numbness, but with any luck they would amp it up too high and he could just go and join Jenny. He couldn't tell them what they wanted to know, anyway, and even if he could he wouldn't; because all he wanted was for them to lose their patience and just kill him._

_..._


	4. Spero - Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kevin and Jenny Ryan have had a week-long vacation, a last chance to be just them before the birth of their child. But now Ryan seems to have forgotten to come back to work, and he isn't answering his phone. Follow the team on a painful and frustrating journey as they search for their missing partner.
> 
> Set Season Six just after Kate returns to the 12th.  
> All past events are established canon, with references and possible spoilers, but the story is AU.
> 
> I don't own Castle - ABC Studios and Andrew Marlowe do. I'm just borrowing the characters for a while to play.  
> I am not making any money from this; it's just to freeshare with my ff friends.

Throughout the morning Castle and Beckett kept going over and over Covona's file and adding to the board to try to find something or someone that could link to him and help them find him. Esposito was personally following any sightings from the APB they'd put out on him, but they had had no luck so far. Still, it kept him away from Gates, which Beckett wanted to do because she knew he was very near the edge and didn't want him to blow again where Gates could see. They were all coming up on thirty-six hours working now and were becoming exhausted. Still Beckett continued to push herself, because Ryan didn't have time for them to rest. The longer it went on, though, the harder it was to keep faith that they would find him alive. As she and Castle stood before the board, studying it one more time and hoping for inspiration, he tried to persuade her to grab a couple of hours on the couch in the break room. And then the phone rang, but the conversation eroded her hope just a little bit more, and she bowed her head and tried not to break down.

"What?" Castle asked.

"That was CSU. As we thought there was blood from three different people in the apartment. Two were Jenny and Ryan…"

"So he was injured?"

"Yeah, though we don't know how badly. They found a knife, but the blood on it was from the other donor. The problem is they got no hits on it, so the donor can't be Covona, as his blood is on file from Sing Sing."

"Doesn't mean he wasn't there. We said there had to be more than one."

"I know, but the more we learn the more this seems totally out of his league. He would have just tried to kill Ryan, or Jenny. But this, this is more intricate. Maybe you were right. Maybe Ryan was taken because of something he knows."

"So what does he know that the rest of you don't?"

"Well, the only time he was here, and the rest of us weren't, was last year. But surely he would have mentioned something important enough to kill for."

"Maybe he didn't know what he knew?"

"Uhh?"

"He didn't realize it!"

"Oh, right. Well, as we don't have Ryan here, himself, we have to hit the files again. With a fresh eye. I'll take the paper you've already done, and you hit my computer for the electronic files."

"Sounds like a plan, but I'm going to grab us some coffee first." He turned and then spotted their Latino detective coming into the bullpen, with a face like thunder. "Esposito, you're back! Want some coffee?" He held up his hands and shook his head, no. He then dropped into Castle's seat by Beckett's desk.

"Did you find him?"

"Yeah."

"What!? That's great."

"No, Beckett. It's really not. He's been in a local jail upstate for the past week. Was caught riding the trains, and as he had drugs they held him. They got the all points bulletin today and let us know. It had just landed on the desk, as I was getting back so they shouted me over."

"Maybe they made a mistake. It's happened before."

"No they faxed through a photo and fingerprints. It's definitely him."

"Damn! Although we had been thinking that maybe we'd gotten it wrong. Castle and I were just going to hit the files from last year again."

"We haven't got time for this. Ryan hasn't got time for this. Man, we need a break!"

"I might just have one for you." They all spun around to look at the man who had just spoken.

"Special Agent Walker!?"

…

"I heard about Detective Ryan and think I might have some information which could help you. At least, as a starting point. Three weeks ago Robert Shannon was caught up in a prison fight and was knifed. He died later the same day."

"So, Bobby S is dead!" said Esposito. "Who would care? I thought that bible Ryan got for you took down the whole damn crew."

"Well, yes, it did. But the thing is, Bobby had a younger brother who had nothing to do with the business. Same mother, different fathers. They didn't even live in Staten Island. Lived in Queens. Then about ten years ago, when the brother was about fifteen, his father was killed in a mugging that went wrong. Bobby took over financially for his mom, and paid for his brother to go to school. Pretty fancy. He sent him up to MIT. Apart from the money they had little interaction. Bobby never visited his mother or brother, just the occasional phone call and email. And the brother's clean. Never had so much as a parking ticket. But, after Bobby got sent away, the brother started visiting him in prison. Don't know what they talked about, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if the subject of Kevin Ryan didn't come up."

"So you think this is about revenge because Ryan took down Bobby's crew, and put him away?!

"Well, especially now that Bobby has been killed. Yes."

"But why take him? Why not just kill him?"

"Because I'm betting that Kevin Ryan wasn't the only one they talked about. After all, he was never really one of them. He was an undercover cop. Bobby would have felt betrayed and angry he'd been taken in, but not as betrayed as if it had been someone who WAS one of them. Someone like Siobhan O'Doul. I'll bet Bobby even wondered if she hadn't been feeding him information all these years. She was Ryan's lover after all. And if she had been doing so, the assumption would be that Ryan would know where she is now, even if he was married to another woman."

"He doesn't just want Ryan, he wants Siobhan as well!"

"But this is just supposition. You say the brother is clean. Why would he start killing now, even if he DID want revenge for his brother? It's just a theory that he wants Siobhan to pay." Beckett interjected with what she thought was a valid point. This was all making sense, but she didn't want to go off chasing after shadows again. After all, they had been sure about Covona being behind it, as well.

"Well there is just one more point which does lend some credence to the whole theory. Six days ago there was an attempt to kidnap a US Marshall who is involved in the relocation of witnesses in the WPP. His partner managed to stop it from happening, but the would-be kidnappers then took off in an unmarked van. The license plate had been obscured with mud, but it wasn't completelty covered and they did get a partial. And that partial matches, amongst numerous others, of course, a van registered to the company where Bobby's brother now works as a computer tech. It's not enough for a warrant but as I said, it does lend possible credence. My office is not involved in this; I'm here on my own time."

"Ryan helped you take down the whole Staten Island crew and your office doesn't want to know?" Esposito said, angrily.

"Yes. He did. And the department was very grateful. But as Detective Beckett pointed out, the hard evidence isn't there yet. It's all supposition and my department won't waste their resources."

"Waste their resources?" Esposito roared. "This is a cop's life we're talking about!"

"I know that, detective. That's why I'm here." As he spoke, Beckett glanced round uncomfortably towards Gates' office and saw her at the glass window.

"Keep it down, Esposito. Do you WANT to get taken off this case?"

"No, sorry. OK, so what is this upstanding citizen's name?" Walker pulled out a file and some photos from his briefcase.

"Meet Michael Carmody of Queens. 25 years old and works as a computer tech for Global IT. I'll leave you the file, and please let me know if you find Detective Ryan. I have a lot of respect for him."

"We will. Thank you Agent Walker."

…

After filling in Gates on what the agent had brought them, Beckett, Esposito and Castle ordered some food and adjourned to the break room to eat, have some coffee, and talk about the information Walker had brought. Gates had authorized her to use a couple of other detectives from the floor and so she had sent Karpowsky and her partner, Merton, to pick up Carmody. Esposito had wanted to go, but Beckett told him they needed to take a break. They wouldn't be any use to Ryan if they passed out.

"You're right, I know. It's just so hard to sit still when Ryan's out there undergoing who knows what!"

"I know, but we can't do anything until Carmody is here so let's eat some food and take a few to try to work out how he could have pulled this off. Castle anything from the file?" He had been sitting looking at the file while she had gotten the coffee and doled out the food.

"Nice house from the photos, decent job. Lives with his mom, but does have a steady girlfriend from where he works, Linda something. Seems to have a good life from what's in that file."

"Well he sounds like Mr. Squeaky-Clean, but we know there had to be more than one person involved. How would he know where to find help?"

"Well there are all those prison visits. Chances are Bobby would have given him some pointers. Maybe he wanted this to go down anyway, and the fact he was killed was a coincidence."

"Maybe," said Castle slowly, "Bobby had been trying to persuade his brother to do this, but because of his upbringing away from the crew he didn't want to. After all, he's got a good life and wouldn't want to mess that up."

"But he knows that the main reason he HAS that good life is because his brother paid for it, even if it was with dirty money. SO, he owes him."

"Still he resists it, until his brother is killed. That's the catalyst that could change things. Now he feels not only gratitude, but also guilt."

"Still seems a bit extreme to go from clean as a whistle to that bloodbath at the apartment," said Esposito.

"But just talking about it isn't really a problem. It's the actually doing it himself that could be hard. And if he hired help, he wouldn't NEED to do it himself."

"And there's another thing," said Castle. "Wasn't Bobby S. diagnosed as having psychopathic tendencies? This IS his brother after all. Same gene-pool even if it's only half of it!"

"So he COULD come to enjoy it really quickly."

"Exactly!"

They were interrupted by Karpowsky who told them that apparently Carmody was on a two week vacation from work. His girlfriend at Global had said he'd gone down to Florida to visit some relatives with his mom. The detectives had also gone to his home, but the place was deserted and the neighbors had confirmed that the Carmodys had said they were going away to see relatives.

"No!" exclaimed Esposito. "We're back to square one! Again!"

…

_He was starting to wonder how much more he could take. They had gotten bored with the water and electrics now, and had switched to a good old-fashioned flogging. Despite himself, despite the numbing pain of losing Jenny, they were starting to get a reaction and he couldn't hold back the screams anymore. When would this be over? He just wanted them to get on with it and let him go to Jenny. No more…_

…


	5. Devastatio - Devastation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kevin and Jenny Ryan have had a week-long vacation, a last chance to be just them before the birth of their child. But now Ryan seems to have forgotten to come back to work, and he isn't answering his phone. Follow the team on a painful and frustrating journey as they search for their missing partner.
> 
> Set Season Six just after Kate returns to the 12th.  
> All past events are established canon, with references and possible spoilers, but the story is AU.
> 
> I don't own Castle - ABC Studios and Andrew Marlowe do. I'm just borrowing the characters for a while to play.  
> I am not making any money from this; it's just to freeshare with my ff friends.

"It's too much of a coincidence that mom and son took off for a holiday, where they can't be reached or traced, at the same time as Ryan disappears. Let's have a look at the airlines and see if we can find a flight?" Esposito nodded, and then Beckett turned to the other two detectives Gates had assigned to her. "Karpowsky see if there's any card activity for train or bus travel; Merton see if you can trace a car to him or his mother, and if there's any sign of them."

"On it."

"What about us?" said Castle.

"I think we could start looking into Bobby S. and see if he had any property they might use. Use Ryan's computer." He nodded and they all settled down to search.

…

Esposito was the first to find something. "Michael and Sarah Carmody were booked on a flight from LaGuardia to Tampa International four days ago, on the 5th at 0930. According to records, they checked in at 0728 and the flight boarded at 0850."

"I've traced a black Lexus registered to Michael Carmody to LaGuardia as well. It was booked through the check-in at 0712 on the 5th," said Merton.

"OK. Esposito, get to the airport and track down some of the crew. I want to make sure they were both actually on the flight." The man nodded and got up to leave, when he was stopped by Karpowsky speaking.

"Hang on a minute, this doesn't make sense, according to these records Carmody's credit card purchased two rail tickets on the Silver Star at Penn Station on the 5th at 1922. How could he be buying train tickets in New York when he had flown to Tampa already?"

"Unless something delayed him… Espo go to LaGuardia and check the CCTV; Karpowsky you take Penn Station. We need to track down exactly what they did. Merton, keep tracking any car records and look if there were any rentals as well. We're on the right track people, let's keep at it." Beckett was getting fired up now; sure they were closing in.

…

They continued working and then Beckett got a call and at the same time Merton got another hit on his car search, which he gave her as soon as she hung up.

"Beckett, there is no car registered to Sarah Carmody but according to the DMV, her license was used to rent a blue Prius on the 5th for a minimum three day rental. It was paid in cash which is why there was no record on the cards… AND that same car went through the Staten Island Toll at the end of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridgeon the 5th at 1222."

"Staten Island, Bobby S.'s home ground. And that also ties in with my call from homicide on Staten Island. Man found in an alley on the island with multiple stab wounds. No I.D. as of yet, but they let us know because his blood is a match for the 3rd sample from the Ryans' apartment. Ryan is on Staten Island, I'm sure of it. We just need to work out where."

"Trouble is Bobby didn't appear to own any property, except for the pub Siobhan ran: his headquarters. Did you find anything?"

"No, but I know someone who might know things not on public record… Ryan himself."

"Who isn't here, in case you haven't noticed! What do you mean, Kate?"

"Ryan isn't here, but his records soon can be. Undercover Ops reports get sealed, but Gates can get them unsealed. I'm going to speak to her, now."

…

Gates came through and soon, the three started going through the undercover files, looking for any indication that Bobby S. used other property on the island.

"I think this could be it," said Castle. "There are frequent references to a warehouse near the docks, but I can't find an actual address."

"I have a couple of references, as well."

"Me too, and an address! Nelson Avenue! Got the scumbags!" It was the most animated they'd ever seen Merton. He was usually very quiet and inconspicuous.

"I need to tell Gates and ask for some backup. But I don't want SWAT, all guns blazing. If they hear us coming, they'll kill him for sure." She turned to go to Gates' office and then spotted Esposito returning from LaGuardia. She paused in her tracks to see what he had to say. "Espo, we're getting close. Did you get anything?"

"Yeah, I did!" Esposito sounded fired up again, as well. "I found Carmody and his mother on The CCTV with Airport Security. They checked in, and seemed to be arguing all the time they were doing it. Then the row appeared to escalate! Sarah Carmody was really agitated."

"So you think Sarah Carmody is just as involved as her son? Not just going along with him?"

"She sure seems to know her own mind. Didn't want to get on that plane for sure. She just up and stalked off to the taxi line. Carmody followed her and they both left in a cab together.

"No doubt off to rent the Prius."

"Prius?"

"Merton will fill you in; I need to speak to Gates. It all seems to be coming together, now."

…

Despite initially protesting, Gates reluctantly agreed with Beckett's opinion that SWAT could endanger Ryan more, and so gave the OK for an assault with uniform backup. Karpowsky had returned with the news that the rail tickets were booked and paid for over the phone, and had not been picked up, so they hadn't left on a train either. This meant they were probably on Staten Island, with at least one other man. They would need to be careful with the planned attack and play it stealthily.

Beckett decided the four detectives, with Castle as well, would take point and the six uniforms in squad cars would be kept in reserve as backup. Gates also contacted the New York Fire Department, and asked for an emergency ambulance to accompany them, as there was a high chance that Ryan would need immediate emergency treatment. The ambulance and the squad cars were ordered to park up quite a distance away from Nelson Avenue, to ensure that there was no possible warning to the kidnappers they hoped to find inside the Warehouse.

The five of them therefore walked the remaining distance towards the building from the direction of the wildlife nature park. It was not totally uncommon for people to be walking in that area, because some wildlife enthusiasts used the commercial district for easy access parking. There was only one warehouse on the avenue, so they had surmised, correctly they hoped, that this must be the right one.

As the five of them neared their target they saw two men come out of a side door and get into a nearby parked car. The car then drove away and turned up the next side street.

"I think there's a diner up there," said Esposito. "They're probably going for some food." Beckett nodded and then called their backup with the car's license plate and told them where they thought they were heading. She instructed the officers to cut the car off and detain the men.

"With any luck there is only Carmody, and maybe his mother, still inside. But continue to keep it quiet, just in case." The others nodded, and they slipped inside through the door they had seen the men come out of. Inside was a huge space, with light spilling in from high windows, creating a similar effect to the famous photograph of Grand Central Station. Some of the shafts of light highlighted something hanging near the other end of the space, and as they neared, they were stopped in their tracks as they realized what it was; their missing colleague and friend.

Ryan was hung by his arms from a chain secured to a hook in the ceiling. Every shred of his dignity had been taken from him, by stripping him naked. He resembled not so much a man as a piece of meat, with blood dripping from cuts and wheals covering his body. His head hung low between his arms and he did not appear to be moving, or even breathing. The sight left them all devastated. Were they too late?

…

_He'd passed the threshold of pain, now. During their 'sessions' his body still spasmed and jerked to a macabre dance, choreographed by their implement of choice; and sometimes, he even cried out. But that was in the physical world. His mind was in a totally different place. It had taken flight to a fantasy world where he lived with Jenny and their child in perfect contentment. They couldn't hurt him anymore. He was safe._

…


	6. Salavit? - Saved?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kevin and Jenny Ryan have had a week-long vacation, a last chance to be just them before the birth of their child. But now Ryan seems to have forgotten to come back to work, and he isn't answering his phone. Follow the team on a painful and frustrating journey as they search for their missing partner.
> 
> Set Season Six just after Kate returns to the 12th.  
> All past events are established canon, with references and possible spoilers, but the story is AU.
> 
> I don't own Castle - ABC Studios and Andrew Marlowe do. I'm just borrowing the characters for a while to play.  
> I am not making any money from this; it's just to freeshare with my ff friends.

They could hear voices in the distance. Beckett gestured over to a door in the far wall but Esposito pointed up to the hanging figure. Beckett shook her head and indicated Castle and Karpowsky, and he reluctantly nodded and started heading towards the door.

"Castle, see if you can get Ryan down," she said softly, "while we deal with them."

"Right, go." She nodded and followed Esposito with Merton close behind.

The three of them stealthily pulled the door open, went through and disappeared. Castle looked for a way to get to Ryan, and seeing a chair took it to stand on. As he climbed up he felt for Ryan's neck and breathed a sigh of relief when he found a pulse. It was weak and thready, but at least it was there. He tried to work out how to get him down without hurting him more, but then felt the weight being taken as Karpowsky took hold of the injured man's legs. He'd forgotten she was there. Castle then reached for the cuffs securing Ryan to the chain and, trying not to jerk, lifted him from it. Together he and Karpowsky lowered their friend to the ground as gently as possible, and then Castle hurriedly stripped off his vest, and jacket and used that to cover Ryan as much as he could. He dimly heard Karpowsky in the background urgently calling for medics.

… 

Through the door was another large open space, and they saw two people standing by a table, with a lamp and coffee pot, and both were holding cups. Now that the three of them were closer, they could make out what the people were saying.

"Where have those idiots gone? I want to know where that bitch is!"

"They needed a break, Mom. We've hardly let up for over three days straight. Besides, he can't talk if he's unconscious."

"We should have brought his whore with us as well. She was only wounded. He probably would have talked if they'd been inflicting the damage on her instead of him."

"We have to face the fact that he may not even know where O'Doul is. He's not said a word, despite everything. We need to just kill him and get out of here."

"They put my baby in the ground!" she screamed. "They BOTH deserve to pay! Just killing HIM isn't enough!"

"NYPD! Keep your hands where we can see them!" At those words both figures whirled round to face them, and suddenly the woman ran at them screaming. Esposito was feeling at his boiling point after the sight of his partner, and he took her straight down with a punch to her face, probably using more force than was strictly necessary, but he simply couldn't bring himself to care. The man just stood and stared at them , seemingly in disbelief, as his mother rolled on the floor and groaned.

"She's an old woman," he said, loudly. "You can't do that to an old woman."

"What?" roared Esposito. "Someone who condones the shooting of a pregnant woman and then leaving her to bleed out, is lecturing me on how to treat women?"

"Espo, enough," said Beckett. "Cuff her and read her rights to her. Michael Carmody," Merton now had Carmody in a vice-like grip, and Beckett spun him around and cuffed him. "You are under the arrest for the murder of Jennifer Ryan, and the unlawful kidnapping, imprisonment and torture of Kevin Ryan. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can, and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot…"

… 

Beckett, Esposito and Merton brought the pair through the outer space in cuffs, and found the medics working on their damaged friend, while Castle and Karpowsky hovered nearby.

"OK, I think he's stable enough to move, now. Let's go."

"Where are you taking him?" Beckett asked.

"University Hospital, Ocean Breeze. It's the nearest ER; and this man needs urgent help." Beckett nodded and then Esposito spoke.

"Beckett, I need to go with him."

"I know. Go. We'll be there soon."

… 

Outside Beckett and Merton handed the Carmodys over to the uniforms and stood and watched as Ryan was loaded into the ambulance. Esposito got in as well, and then it pulled away with sirens wailing and lights flashing. One of the officers told them that the other two men were in custody and already on their way back to the 12th, and Beckett knew they would have to get over to the 12th as well to update Gates and to interrogate the four assailants. Going to the hospital would have to wait.

"He coded in the Warehouse," said Castle quietly in her ear. "Just after we got him down. We're damn lucky he's still with us. Just a little while longer and I think it would have been a different story."

"I know," said Beckett, choking down a sob. "We took too long."

"We went as fast as we could. I wasn't meaning to blame. Just saying we've been damn lucky." Beckett turned to him with a soulful face.

"We might still lose him, and if we do I think we'll lose Javi too. At least as the man he was. He'll never forgive himself."

"It wasn't his fault. Wasn't anyone's fault, except those four you arrested."

"I know, but I don't think Javi sees it like that. And there's something else eating at him, too. I've never seen him as volatile as he's been on this case."

"It's his partner! What do you expect?"

"I know. Come on, let's get back. Sooner we do the interrogations and get this all sewn up, the sooner we can get to the hospital. Although, actually, you could go to the hospital, now, if you want. You don't have to come back to the precinct."

"Oh no, you're not keeping me out of THESE interrogations. I've got a vested interest in this, as well."

"I know. I just meant you were free to do what you want to do. I'd welcome your company in the interviews."

"Well then, let's get back and get on with it."

… 

Karpowsky and Merton had taken the interviews of the other two men and had left the Carmodys for Beckett and Castle. As they expected, the other two men, identified as William Morcross and Joel King, had been the hired help, and had done the majority of the torture. Both were petty criminals with rap sheets for intimidation and assault. In addition, the dead man, now known to be David Johnson had been identified by both men as the person responsible for shooting Jenny; and Carmody confirmed this;

"We'd told them we were after Ryan and his girlfriend, and the idiot just shot as we came through the door, assuming that the woman who answered was O'Doul." Beckett felt sick as she heard that the deaths of that young, vibrant, soon-to-be mother and her unborn child had been simply a case of mistaken identity. She glanced at Castle and caught a murderous expression on his face, as he gazed at the younger man.

The assault on the apartment had gone down as they surmised. Johnson went in first and shot Jenny. Ryan, hearing the shots, had run out and grabbed a ceremonial knife he had on the wall and gone straight for Johnson. He got multiple hits with the dagger before Morcross and King subdued him, despite the fact that Ryan had a shot to his shoulder and another to his arm.

"He just went crazy!" said Carmody. To the disbelief of both Beckett and Castle, he seemed to be surprised at Ryan's reaction. "We should have just killed him there, but Mom was shouting to keep him alive, so we could find out where O'Doul was. Morcross eventually pistol-whipped him and we got him down to the van. We're just lucky we weren't seen, but there's no-one around at that time of day, in that kind of building, usually."

"And what about Johnson? Why was he in that alley?"

"He was staggering by the time we got to the van; I had to help him walk. By the time we got to the warehouse he was unconscious. Mom said he would just get in the way and told me to go and dump him, so I did."

The most surprising fact which had emerged from the interrogations, however, was that the main instigator had always been Sarah Carmody, rather than Michael. It appeared that the relationship between the mother and her elder son was much closer than anyone had realized. She had left her husband by choice, not her son. The only reason she hadn't taken him with her was because at fifteen years old, his father was already using him in the business, and he wanted to stay in it. The money was too easy and he had really enjoyed the work. Despite this, he loved his mother, and wanted to stay in touch with her, but he had to keep it secret because his father had completely disowned her. If attention had been drawn to the fact he was still in contact with his mother, there was always the possibility that Shannon Sr. would decide that a permanent dissolution was in order, and his mother would have taken a long dive off a bridge!

Between them, Sarah and Bobby had been working on Michael to get him to help with avenging the perceived betrayal, as well as the prison sentence. But only the death of his brother had made him agree with his mother, and when it started he had had no idea how far they would have to go. He had thought it would just be a matter of hiring someone to kill Ryan and O'Doul, and it would all be over. They would have been safe in Florida, but his mother wanted to make sure both people she held responsible for the death of her elder son were dead, before she would leave. She wouldn't get on the plane and she refused to even go to the station so he didn't bother going to get the tickets. The first complication came, of course, when they failed to kidnap the marshal and couldn't discover the whereabouts of Siobhan O'Doul. And from there it went rapidly downhill.

The interview with Michael Carmody had, at least, been informative. The one with Sarah had not. She had simply sat and ranted about her 'baby' and that the 'scum and his whore' would pay. Beckett reckoned there was a high chance she would be committed, rather than imprisoned.

… 

At last they were done. The prisoners had been transferred to await arraignment in court, and Castle and Beckett got to the hospital to check on Ryan. They found Lanie already there in the waiting room, her hand resting on a distraught Esposito's arm.

"What's happened? He's not?.."

"No, he's stabilizing. But he won't wake up. They think he may slip into a coma." Beckett took in a breath of relief.

"It's OK, Javi. Give him some time. He'll come back to us. We just need to wait and be patient. We'll go and sit with him, and talk to him, and let him know we are there for him."

… 

_The first time he had heard their voices he thought he'd conjured them up and brought them to his world, because he missed them too. Javi, and Beckett, and Castle were nearly as big a part of his life, as were Jenny and their child. But then he'd slowly come back to the physical, and realized that the pain was easing a little, that he was no longer hanging with his arms straining at their sockets, and that the low soothing voices were real. They were his friends. He should have been happy, but he wasn't. They were pulling him from the fantasy; the perfect family world he had created; and in a way that hurt even more, than all that had gone before. His friends hadn't saved him. They'd destroyed the only thing he had left. They should have let him die._

…

* * *

To be continued in Per Ardua Ad Luce Part Two ~ Fulgurus Lucem - Flashes of Light ~

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: A HUGE thank you to Firestar385 for beta reading, Americanizing and generally correcting this work. Any remaining mistakes are mine!
> 
> Please let me know what you think. All constructive criticism is welcomed - I haven't written in quite a while and the only way to improve is to take on board other people's comments. I hope you will enjoy the reading journey as much as I am enjoying the writing one.
> 
> Bookart for this work can be found in Part 3 of this series


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